The Camp
by sera-chan011
Summary: Len/Kaho. Sequel to THE ISLE. There was this small smile on Tsukimori's face that went unseen by Kahoko, although unknown to him, she swore she heard a whisper coming from him that said, "But having YOU is far better than having JUST a SOMEONE with me."
1. I: Everything's A Mistake

_Ooowie~! Excuse me for not writing for God knows how long. I was wee—sulking since Prince of Tennis ended in a local channel. HAHA. Anyway, I decided to make a sequel for those people who _really_ liked _The Isle_. I decided to follow my instincts. Murder me if you wouldn't like this and send me a delicious yakisoba [I LOVE yakisoba] if you liked this as fairly as _The Isle_. _

_I want to give the kind people bear hugs for reviewing the last chapter/epilogue of _The Isle_. You deserve credits for reviewing. _

_So, shall we start and end my blabbering? _

_Enjoy reading and don't forget to leave your wonderful and awesome __**review**__!_

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**The feeling's no ordinary for a certain Len. His heartbeat accelerates**

**as his eyes rest on her. But he is a coward, he's afraid. Will he have the chance to believe**

**his feelings for her through a camp organized by Hihara even if his friendship**

**with Yunoki Azuma will be in peril?**

**-**

**Chapter 1 – Everything's A Mistake**

"_I. Love. You."_

Slowly, the bullion orbs of a certain blue-haired lad fluttered open. The words kept on ringing on his ears like a tinkling of a bell, the voice so tender and loving. For a while back then, he thought he was just dreaming, but as he felt warm and soft lips pressed against his, the lovely scent of veronica flowers drifting itself into his nose, he knew he wasn't dreaming.

Tsukimori's face crumpled. Annoyed, he clenched his hands into fists and irately slammed it on his bed. The bed sprung up as the force was strong and powerful, the bedcover crumpling in the process.

'_Bastard!_' he mentally cursed, dragging his clenched fist onto his forehead. He shut his eyes closed, a frown furrowing his eyebrows.

What he did and _she_ did back in the hospital was disagreeable. Kissing a person who was already with someone else was incorrect. But the question that doesn't dare stop bugging him _is_: "Was she really _taken_?"

Tsukimori groaned and bit his lower lip. Taken or not, he must have never kissed her back.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he continued to curse, caring less of it being out of character for him.

It was already a week after that event took place. The tender kiss they shared as he was lying on the hospital bed and she was patiently leaning onto him didn't quit his mind _every_ day. Why? It was all because of the no ordinary feeling that made his heartbeat accelerate at that moment. It was _maybe_ because he really wanted it. He definitely wanted it back to happen again. He absolutely wanted to bring back time to that moment where her lips clashed with his. He undoubtedly wanted the veronica perfume of hers intoxicate him once again.

"But that's wrong!" he hissed. He sat up straight on his bed and got off, eventually heading towards his balcony.

He decided to ignore and evade her calls and visits, afraid that the feelings that bug him unceasingly grow without his brain and heart's sanction. All the while he stayed in his room and rest as prescribed by his physician. But the rest that he expected never came. His mind was so _very_ exhausted of thinking whether everything was right or wrong.

"That was a mistake," he finally concluded as he sighed dismissingly, slamming his hand on the railings of the balcony. '_That was a mistake … right, I need to talk to her_,' he thought.

-

She stared blankly at the short set of words written on the screen of her mobile phone. Cold beads of sweat tickled down to her neck, her breathing coming in rapid.

Her voice croaked as she reread for the second time the set of words on the screen.

"**From:**_ Tsukimori-kun_

_Later at three in my usual practice room_"

'_Does he want me to … talk with him? But … about what?_' Kahoko desperately thought as she silenced her phone and pocketed it in her skirt.

Sudden emotions flooded her as the message arrived on her. _The_ Tsukimori Len indeed wanted to meet her. But for what reason? She's afraid it'd be about the absurd action she did when she visited and last saw the lad in the hospital. But that was a week ago.

Kahoko's face darkened and guilt was present suddenly in her eyes. '_Please … nothing bad …_'

The redhead heaved a sigh and went out of the cubicle of the restroom. She fixed her hair for a while and slapped her face to bring out a usual Kahoko before exiting towards her classroom.

-

"Tsukimori!" called Hihara as he ran his way towards the said person. Students in the hallway turned curiously towards him, immediately whispering at each other at the sight of two of the people involved in the unexpected incident in the isle.

Tsukimori halted and spun around to face an uneasy Hihara. "Yes?" he impassively queried with a frown.

The greenhead stared at Tsukimori for a while before his lips broke into a sheepish grin. He straightened before clasping his hands together and bow low in front of the blue-haired. He's got a pleading gesture.

Tsukimori's eye twitched. "Yes?" he repeated.

"Please, forgive me for what happened back in the isle. You were left behind just to find and inform me about leaving … your infirmity and injuries worsened and you were hospitalized for a week because of me," he _start_ed. "That was enough reason why … I organized a camping to pay for our unsuccessful cruise to Hawaii and vacation—"

"Everything wasn't your fault, it came in naturally," Tsukimori intervened.

"I know but … I want everyone else of us to be together … this would be Yunoki and mine last summer vacation as seniors here in Seiso … please go with us? I already informed everyone else, I know summer's done … but please, I already informed Amou-san, she'll be going with us," continued Hihara as he straightened up.

Tsukimori wasn't able to hear the rest as he started to space out at the sudden mention of Yunoki's name.

'_Don't go, he'll be there_,' he thought. '_Jerk, that's why you'll be conversing with Hino right?_' another part of him argued.

Hihara waved a hand in front of Tsukimori as he noticed him out of the conversation. "Tsukimori? Hello? Earth to Tsukimori?"

The lad snapped out from his reverie and breathed in heavily.

"I'll think about it, please excuse me," he said and walked off, his hands clenching into fists. Hihara was left standing alone in the hallway, wondering whether the heat of summer sun burnt Tsukimori's brains into crisps.

"He's acting weird," he mumbled along with a shrug. "Oh well, I still need to talk to Ousaki-senpai."

-

Kahoko fiddled with her hands as she was standing in front of the door of the practice room usually accommodated by Tsukimori. She heard music of a violin from the outside of the door, her heart beating like mad as if it would eventually break her ribs. Gulping, she softly knocked on the door and opened it.

Playing a violin inside was the Tsukimori Len, his posture so pure and perfect, you'd think of him as a professional in the making.

'_He's a professional you know!_' Kahoko thought while mentally chuckling in the process. But she also immediately turned nervous as the lad paused from his business and impassively turned towards the redhead.

"Y-You want to t-talk with m-me, Tsukimori-kun?" inquired Kahoko while still fiddling.

Tsukimori closed his eyes. "I want to make this quick, I wouldn't want you to come home late," he started, a tinge of light red invading his cheeks.

Kahoko creased her eyebrows and blushed. "W-What i-is it?"

"Forget about everything: everything I said back in that isle, everything we did together in there and … my and your action in the hospital," he continued, averting his gaze from the lass.

Kahoko inclined her head curiously to the side. "W-Why?"

"Because I don't want to have any hindrance with my aspired dream," said Tsukimori. '_Liar_,' he thought.

The redhead gulped and bowed.

"Let me apologized for that," she said, cold sweat once again trickling down to her neck. "I shouldn't have said …" she paused, a blush adorning her cheeks, "I-I shouldn't have done _that_."

Tsukimori stared at Kahoko impassively. "It's also my fault, a reason why I'll also apologize, I – I shouldn't have tolerated _that_," he said as the tinge of light red gradually deepened.

Kahoko slowly nodded, feeling embarrassed about what happened when she visited Tsukimori in the hospital. "I'm sorry for … being … your … hindrance to your dream," she choked, tears threatening to escape her amber eyes.

"Just …" Tsukimori paused and turned guiltily towards the redhead, "…to make things clear, everything that happened was a mistake. Remember that. You may now go."

Kahoko straightened, smiled sheepishly, and scratched the side of her head. "

S-See you tomorrow," she stammered and desperately made her way towards the door. She paused as her hand landed on the knob. "Tsukimori-kun, no matter what happened," she paused and spun around, "I want to be your friend and confidant in any ways, so please don't hesitate to go in the camp organized by Hihara-senpai."

She turned again and exited the room, her heartbeat accelerating.

'_That wasn't the problem Hino …_' Tsukimori wanted to say as he stared blankly at the closed door.

-

'_Stupid Kaho! How many times do I have to say that he doesn't feel the same way about you?!_' Kahoko thought as she walked out of the gate. Her eyes moisturized though tears didn't show off.

She paused by the gate and bit her lip. "You're just really stupid Kahoko," she mumbled once again and started walking.

"Hino-san," called a velvety voice.

Kahoko paused and spun around to face the one and only Yunoki Azuma. Her eyes widened. "Yunoki-senpai?"

Yunoki smiled and pointed a black limousine parked on his side. "Please let me bring you home," he said with his usual etched smile.

Different pairs of eyes turned incredulously on him and whispers suddenly filled the air. Before Kahoko could even react, the lilac haired lad pulled her wrist and motioned her in the limousine.

…_to be continued

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**Author's Note:**_ I'm not being bad am I? See, even if I added an epilogue I still published a sequel for _The Isle_! HAHA. Anyway, speaking of epilogue, I'd like to thank the people who continuously supported me all the way and reviewed the said fic. Thank you! *cheesy*_

_Oh! I still haven't updated 'MEMOIR'. Gomen. My lazy ass has been on the go since we had our barangay fiesta. Filipinos out there knew what I mean. Fiestas definitely make a person lazy afterwards. HAHA. My sincere apology. I don't know when I can update either that or this since school is back. Luckily, my school's opening's still on 8__th__ of June so … lucky me! :)_

_Don't forget to __**review**__ people! Thank you!_

_~sera-chan_


	2. II: Partners?

_Woohoo~ thanks to every one of you who reviewed! I've been a lot busy these days … :O school's such a … hassling kind of thing? Not that school is but—it's still irritating in some extent. :x­_

_Okie, seeing that I now have some spare time, why not go for it? Here's the update! :D_

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 2 – Partners?**

"No!" she cried as she slammed her door shut. Her sister had been annoying her about this 'Yunoki thing'. Couldn't she just leave her alone peacefully in the quietness in her room?

"You'll just have to answer if he's dating you!" demanded the other lass from the outside of her room.

Annoyed, Kahoko stomped her feet. "I already answered you and it's a NO!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. '_She doesn't have to be this annoying!_'

"Are you sure? Then why did he bring you home?" questioned the older lass.

Kahoko heaved a heavy sigh before once again opening her bedroom door. She frowned at her suspicious sister and heaved another sigh. "First of all, he just pulled me inside his grandiose limo without my permission. Most importantly, he is not dating me!"

"I won't believe you especially I saw with my own very eye how he kissed you on your right cheek!" stated Kahoko's onee-chan with an impish grin. She turned around with her hair swaying behind her and walked downstairs, leaving Kahoko madly blushing.

'_Why does she have to remind me?_' Kahoko mentally groaned as she fell on her knees. Not only was the kiss she could remember but she could also not forget about the lilac-haired lad's very words before he did the unexpected action.

"_Knowing that Tsukimori avoids you, I think it would be fine if I would steal you away from him … say, why don't I just tell him to leave you to me?"_

The redhead moaned, distinctly remembering how his cold voice sent a different kind of chill down her spine. Why does everything have to be complicated? Unexpectedly, a flash of a certain cerulean-haired lad caught her off-guard.

-

Sturdy trees towered them, dry leaves rasping in their every step and chirps of birds were clearly heard around. Everywhere was dark with little light seeping through from above, the bulky coupled leaves being the hindrance. There was wide variety of tall trees surrounding them, mosses covering most of the tree trunks. Dried leaves colored with auburn and brown were aimlessly scattered everywhere.

For one week, the group will stay in this unusual forest, not knowing what would happen. The school allowed them seeing that they should have been in Hawaii for two weeks but only three days were used in the so-called 'vacation'.

"Hihara-senpai, is this the place?" asked Tsuchiura while observing his surrounding. He pulled off his travel backpack from his shoulders and landed it on the ground with sounds of crunching made in doing so.

Hihara nodded, staring enthusiastically around. He walked towards a tree with an undoubtedly tall height and touched its trunk. It was uneven and crunchy of a sort which was obviously old enough. "Onii-chan chose this site," he muttered while still observing the place.

"It's going to be exciting!" squealed Amou with a camera in hand, prepared to take some shots everywhere. She was asked by Hihara to go with them so their group would be exactly even in numbers—he's got his own reasons.

"Not bad," complimented Yunoki while looking around as well, "right Hino-san?" He turned to her with his usual mysterious smile then sighed.

"R-Right," the redhead seconded, biting her lower lip.

"A-Anou, s-s-senpai, may y-you already e-explain to u-us already about the d-d-directives while w-we're i-i-in here?" queried Fuyuumi while clutching her backpack.

Hihara broke free from his mirth into seeing the forest then excitedly turned to his friends. "Simple, while we're here, we'll also have a game," he stated then brought his bag down on the ground.

"Game?" questioned Tsukimori with an annoyed tone.

The green-head merely nodded but didn't elaborate. He rummaged through his things and got a tumbler with straws that were cut short inside.

"Here," he beamed.

Shimizu raised his eyebrows lazily. "For … what is that … sen … pai?" he asked then scratched the back of his head.

"Great question!" beamed Hihara yet again. He shook the tumbler with eagerness and the straws inside shuffled. Contented with the shuffling, he urged Kahoko to get a piece.

"Eh?"

"Go on," he urged as the girl hesitated.

Creasing her eyebrows in confusion, Kahoko placed her hand [which incredibly fitted] into the tumbler and fished for a piece of straw. She got it then stared inquiringly to her green-head senpai. "What's this?"

"Hihara-senpai," called Tsuchiura. "Don't tell me—you're going to pair us up?"

His suspicions were confirmed as Hihara shrugged. "Where's the fun if we won't put up a _little_ game?" the green-head senpai raised. "Actually, inside the straw is a small piece of rolled paper which had a small letter in it. Since we're now eight, including Amou-san, I can fairly divide ourselves into pairs. The letters were a-h, 'a' & 'b' being partners and the same process for the next people who'd simultaneously get the letter assigned on them."

"Is that so? Then it will really be exciting," stated Amou with a hint of excitement as she herself fished for a piece of straw. After getting her own, she hushed Fuyuumi to pick herself.

The others followed, Tsukimori picking the last.

"We'll check our letter assigned on us on a count of three: one, two, and three!" exclaimed Hihara in his childish way and he poked the rolled piece of paper out of the constrictive straw. The others did the same.

"I got 'c'," informed Tsuchiura while half raising his hand.

"Mine's 'd'!" beamed Amou who turned ruefully towards Tsuchiura.

'_Oh great, I'd have to pair up with the stalk-ish person_,' the green-head mentally groaned, smacking his hand into his face.

"'f' …" muttered a drowsy Shimizu with his eyes falling on the teal-haired girl.

"A-Ah … a-a-anou … 'e'," Fuyuumi stammered, not pulling her sight away from the piece of paper. She'd just get the chance to be with the almost-slumbering Shimizu—something she least expected.

Shimizu smiled at her and said, "Good … luck for both … of us …"

Fuyuumi nodded coyly.

"Alright! I got 'a'!" Hihara grinned and expectantly turned towards Kahoko. '_She's got to be 'b'_,' he thought with excitement and anxiety all mixed up. "How 'bout you, Kaho-chan?"

"Well … it seems you won't be my partner in here," said Kahoko with a sheepish smile. "I'm on with 'g'."

And it deeply sank in for a certain cerulean-haired lad. "I'm … Hihara-senpai, maybe you'd like to exchange with me?" asked Tsukimori all of the sudden.

"No changing back," said Yunoki with a cold stare. "I've got 'b'."

Hihara fell silent and dumbstruck—disappointment clear on his face. "Ah … anou … Yunoki eh? Ah … oh—alright! Yeah … so Kaho-chan would be paired … oh, yeah, yeah, why … oh, why not? With Tsukimori …" he stuttered, his face flushing.

Tsukimori sighed. "I said I can exchange with you senpai," he repeated. That was the only way he'd get away from a redhead as possible. After everything that happened between them both, there's no denying that he has become much of a coward. He has had never got the face to turn on her.

"That's being a cheater," mocked Tsuchiura while glaring at Tsukimori. "You won't exchange with anyone be it against whatever you want."

"I'm not a cheater," started Tsukimori. "I realized that Hihara-senpai wants Hino to be his—"

"Nah, whoever we are paired up with, then be it," said Hihara while rubbing the back of his head.

Yunoki smiled but still sent Tsukimori a cold stare. "Right. So, how does the game go?"

Fuyuumi and Amou sighed, relieved that the recent tension finally broke up. The younger stared at her redheaded senpai, her curiosity perked up as Kahoko bowed her head with a distinct shame. She cocked her head to the side, wondering why Kahoko acted that way.

"Alright, the game would be related to searching things or something like 'treasure hunting'. Ousaki-senpai and Kanazawa-sensei hid some valuable things of ours around here—" started Hihara but was immediately cut off.

"_Our_ valuable things?" demanded everyone, disbelief present in their eyes.

Hihara chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah … _ours_ … I'll explain everything once everything's finished … once the victors and losers were identified. The gist is … in these cards," he raised four envelopes with red in color, "are lists of instructions on what to do. So every pair will just read it and things would get fine …" He sheepishly grinned as he gave each pairs an envelope.

The rest of the group exchanged looks then stared blankly at the envelope given to them.

"Alright," muttered Shimizu.

Hihara grinned a toothy one. "So, let's go? Just remember not to hurry. We've got one week to finish all tasks and don't feel uncomfortable, there're signs around."

-

Drizzle unexpectedly came as Kahoko and Tsukimori walked up a low slope. It was a good thing that the leaves of trees bundled together above served as their shed for the meanwhile. The two merely kept silent, allowing the sounds of drips of rain tapping the leaves be the only ones heard.

They remained silent as they at last found an evenly spread land. Everywhere was grassy and full of dried fallen leaves and some twigs around. Trees still surrounds them but they found a place with enough space for them to put up their tents.

"A-Anou … Tsukimori-kun, I hope you won't mind if … please do fix my tent!" she asked, bowing straight in front of Tsukimori.

Tsukimori paused from what he was doing then continued again. "Hn," was the sound that escaped his lips.

The redhead's face lit up and she smiled. "Thank you Tsukimori-kun! Just tell me how I can help you," she said as she approached the lad.

It was great of being _finally_ [and _at least_] being in good terms with the ice cube. She had proven this as Tsukimori was _finally_ able to stare at her in the eyes and didn't mind being in close proximity with her.

Just as they finished with only one tent, the drizzle slowly turned into a heavier rain.

"Ack," moaned Kahoko. As she was about to protest, she felt a hand tug hers and she was pulled down into the tent by Tsukimori.

"I guess you don't have any plans of being a mere problem to me?"

The redhead's eyes widened as she turned to the glaring lad. '_Those words …_'

-

"Ah, S-Shimizu-kun, i-i-it's raining," muttered Fuyuumi while looking up. She and Shimizu had just finished putting up one tent when the rain started. Sighing, they got inside the tent and stared outside the forest, silence engulfing them.

"Fuyuumi-san … what's written on … the card given by … Hihara-senpai?" asked Shimizu out of the blue as he laid himself on the ground with his hands at the back. He expectantly turned to the teal-head girl who modestly delved her bag.

Once she fished out the said object, Fuyuumi got the card from inside a red envelope. Shimizu on the other hand handed her a flashlight so she could easily read what was written.

"_First task: In the east side of this forest, you'll need to find Tsukimori Len's most precious photograph that he really took care of …_" read Fuyuumi then she questioningly turned to the blonde haired boy on her side. "Ts-Tsukimori-senpai's p-photograph t-t-that he really t-took care of a-and …"

"…precious?" continued Shimizu with an amused expression.

They exchanged looks for a while before Fuyuumi continued reading. "_…and with the photograph is another envelope with a card that held the next instructions._"

The two remained hushed, trying to comprehend the words better. How would they find it if the place they were currently in was such a big place? And most importantly, they do not know how _that_ photo looks like.

'_Tsukimori-senpai's valuable thing is a photo, eh?_' thought Shimizu before drifting off to sleep, leaving his companion in slight daze.

-

"Hihara, for the umpteenth time, you sighed again," reprimanded Yunoki with a distracted look. "If you _badly_ wanted Hino-san to be your partner then you should have just repeated the—"

"I know, I know … I'm NOT depressed that Kaho-chan isn't my partner okay?" the green-head defended with a faraway look. He watched with bored eyes as droplets of rain kept on falling from above, hitting the aimlessly scattered dry leaves.

Yunoki raised his eyebrows. '_He's so stubborn_,' he thought with his turn to sigh. "I'll just read the task assigned on us."

Hihara nodded, still staring off to space.

"_First task: In the north side of this forest, you'll need to find Hino Kahoko's topical diary filled with notes about your experiences when you were stranded in an isle_," Yunoki read then turned towards Hihara with an entertained face. "This is going to be interesting," he told his companion with a smile gracing his lips.

Hihara turned to him with wide eyes. "Kaho-chan's valuable thing is a diary?" he questioned, genuine curiosity in his tone.

Yunoki shrugged. "Why not?" He chuckled as he inserted the envelope with the card inside his travel bag.

…_to be continued

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**Author's Note:** _Finally~ an update! I did this in one seating without proofreading it. Just correct the mistakes on your own. XP I was thinking of what could be done in a camp—something exciting then I thought of a game …I asked my beloved best friend to help me out. And if you didn't find this chapter nice … then sorry. I'm always in a hurry when it comes to writing this. My mind didn't produce any creative things. :x And I also fully know the change of mood in here … :( Forgiveness is an act only you can give~ my mind isn't working the way it was before anymore~

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_**Shout Outs:**__ [replies for the anonymous reviewers] :))_

**Icaru**: _Nope, I'm not from Marikina. Proud akong [siguro? XD] sabihin na Batangueño ako. Yup, from Batangas …malayo noh? And you like the YunokixKaho pairing eh? :) Thanks for reviewing~ _

**lcdo** **wuver**: _Ah~ proud to be Filipino? Lol. I think many here aren't proud that that kind of blood runs through us … :) Thanks for the review~ I really had fun reading your appraisal~ and yeah, I'm just thirteen … age doesn't matter, right? XD_

**mally**: _Wonderful writer? Ne, I don't think so. Many here are better. But thanks for your compliments! _

**Hikari** **Azumaya**:_ I hope I'd still get you're liking … and I think the epilogue I added in The Isle is already good … but I just couldn't stop the ideas sprouting in my mind … :) I'll try to make this one good.

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_Well I guess that was all? Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! You're the best~ XDD_

_**Reviews**__ please? Thanks a million!_

_~sera-chan_


	3. III: Harking Back

_Err … frustrated at me? People, I know I haven't updated this thing for _ages_, seriously and I hated myself because of it. :x But here I go now, sheepishly 'conversing' with you to inform you that here's the update. I was able to update stories and published one-shots before injecting this installment, you might be curious. I somehow lost my attentiveness to this fan fiction and so and so. :) But I do hope you'd understand. I really tend to mess around and be slothful enough to update this. _

_And so, I hope you'll appreciate the update just fine. Please review. Thanks~_

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 3 – Harking Back **

Not minding whether he himself was wet, Tsuchiura continued his job of putting up the last of the two tents for Amou and himself. Despite his drenched hair and clothes, he didn't halt from doing the task and instead intently listened from Amou the contents of the card handed over by Hihara earlier that day.

"Seriously?" he uttered without averting his eyes away from his current business.

"Well, that wasn't a complete shock, was it?" said Amou idly who was sitting inside the prepared tent and shrugged. She jadedly rummaged through Tsuchiura's travel bag for any towel. "I've got to admit, all excitement seemed to fritter away. I mean, what's the excitement about finding a stock of chocolates? Seriously, I must have _really_ expected that from Hihara-senpai."

Tsuchiura raised an eyebrow before taking his shirt off and getting a hold of the towel from Amou. He grumpily sat beside her who immediately tried to shoo him away.

"Amou-san, I don't believe you're the kind to be so sensitive," said Tsuchiura blatantly, referring on how the girl shooed him. "But I _do_ deem you to be a person who isn't the one to be grateful about the hard work of other people for the pleasure of _you_."

Amou merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, right," mocked Amou who rested her head on her palm. She stared off outside and silently watched as the drizzle gradually turned to downpour.

They were engulfed in one uncomfortable silence before Tsuchiura decided to be the icebreaker.

"It's raining …" he started. Amou, stunned by his sudden voice, turned to him.

"Obviously it's raining so we can't start with the task yet!" she exclaimed. "I want to finish it already so I can sneak into other people's business and at least gather some _juicy_ information."

The green-head huffed. "I don't mean that," he said.

Amou raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you want to connote?" she queried, her interest starting to crawl to its highest peak.

Tsuchiura hesitated, considering Amou to be the nosy type. But he likewise felt like shattering into fragments if his brain wouldn't send the message to his mouth for it to open up and speak. "I had just harked back to everything that took place to us when we were in the isle," he finally said.

The brunette lass puffed her cheeks and turned to stare outside once again. "I have a feeling you won't share."

"That's if you promise you'll just listen and never let any personal matters leak out."

With that said statement, Amou beamed, a sly grin gracing her lips. "Name it."

Tsuchiura sighed. "I'm just worried about Hino and that Tsukimori. They might remember some uncomfortable things that happened to the two of them considering they were together during those times—away from us, I must add."

Amou's grin widened. "And are trying to imply that there _might_ have been something between the two? Or there _was_ something that emerged from the two while they were alone together? _Or_ are you simply trying to say that the 'Violin Romance' finally came true and is now proved never to be a legend?"

The lad turned to her as if she had grown another head. "Hell no! Though I have to declare that I think there really _was_ something up to the two … which makes me more worried. They were acting strange towards each other."

"Like they are evading each others' presence?" the lass suggested.

"…yeah?"

"Like they never look into each others' eyes anymore and even not converse together?" Amou pressed on. She leaned closer to the lad [who leaned back away] with the excitement glimmering in her eyes, her bottom seemingly wagging like a dog's.

Tsuchiura crunched his nose. "…yeah?"

"Like they are now completely and undoubtedly irrevocably in love with each other?" squealed Amou without breaking a breath, her cheeks puffing with utter excitement and entertainment in the newly-acquired information. "Just say YES!"

"…ye—hey! What do you mean?" demanded Tsuchiura as his eyes shown the contrary of Amou's excited ones. "That's the most insane thing I've ever learned of!"

Amou's sly smile slowly crooked up more, turning into the smile of vast mischief. Without warning, she pulled the hand of the shirtless Tsuchiura and pulled him more outside, not minding the stronger downpour.

"What the hell are you doing?" insisted Tsuchiura with a frown marring his once composed facial expression. "It's raining, are you still sane?"

The smile Amou had on never faltered and instead her eyes shone with determination and waywardness. "We're going to finish the tasks _first_ no matter what and poke on to Kaho-chan's pair!!"

Tsuchiura stared at her as though she was indeed going insane.

"What?" inquired Amou with an eyebrow raised. "Remember, _business_."

-

Kahoko stared at Tsukimori's frowning face as her eyes started to widen. Her arm was still encircled by Tsukimori's bigger hand while her heart started beating madder. His words were incredibly the same. She could not deny the fact that the words sent her to cloud nine as the exact words drifted to her ears.

(1)_ "I guess you don't have any plans of being a mere problem to me?"_

Tsukimori said the same words before and Kahoko noticed he realized the same as his eyes started to widen. Slowly, he let go of her arm and looked away, trying not to meet her eyes.

"S-sorry," stammered Kahoko as she felt like shrinking down.

The two remained silent that all you'd get to hear were the incessant tapping of the raindrops on their tent. Why was it being difficult anyway? They had already been together for at least three days alone before and managed to converse without any hesitation but now, it seemed a total difference.

Trying to make the atmosphere lighter, the redhead rummaged through her bag and sheepishly smiled to Tsukimori.

"Uh … anou," she stuttered as she tremblingly got the card off the red envelope, "I-I will read the instructions now, w-would you mind?"

Tsukimori remained still.

"Ah … okay," said Kahoko nevertheless as she unfolded the card. She sent Tsukimori one worried look before starting to read. "_First task: In the south of this forest, you'll have to search for an album containing all the embarrassing pictures of one Tsuchiura Ryoutaro_."

Tsukimori raised his eyebrows in slight entertainment and gradually turned to stare at a likewise amused redhead. That would be really interesting. His rival's most kept secrets would soon be revealed in front of his own bare eyes.

Kahoko chuckled. "Tsukimori-kun," she turned to him with a blush, "let's do our best, shall we? Let's forget all our _mistakes_ for now and enjoy our stay in this adventurous camp … I know we'll have fun."

The blue-haired lad gazed at her in stun but later on, a tiny smile graced his lips. Kahoko was still the same no matter what happened, no matter what had happened to both of them, and no matter what kind of mistake they both had done. If only he knew it wasn't a mistake. If only he knew Yunoki Azuma never really got the redhead. If only …

He frowned and subconsciously recalled their trials in the isle. He recalled how he was injured and had fever just to save Kahoko, how he felt like protecting the redhead from the many dangers that were always surrounding them.

Tsukimori likewise remembered how Kahoko was there, being a piece of motivation to move on. But things weren't always right. Yunoki was always there … he should take control over himself, he knew that. Yet a part of him wanted to …

"Hino," he suddenly called, his eyes pinning the lady's heartbeat to an imaginary halt. "Thank you."

In a swift moment, Kahoko's smile wavered. Here went Tsukimori, starting to say things out of character for him … as what had happened before when they were in the isle. It was like the moment that sent her crying yet smiling; it was like the moment that sent her promising to him.

"For what?" she managed to choke out.

"…for your (2) promises before to me," the lad said as he stood up and went outside to the damp forest. He was smiling a tad and his eyes were calm, his hair getting even damp as the rain began to grow stronger. "Even if I was harsh towards you, you didn't fail to comply with your promises."

The redhead continued staring at him, subconsciously letting go or the card from her hand.

"But this time, I'll be the one to do _one_ certain promise for you." Tsukimori turned his back and started preparing the other tent. "If ever you ever felt like crying, just approach me and I'll try to carry your burden—"

"Again? No, Tsukimori-kun, I won't let that happen," said Kahoko as she followed him outside. She helped Tsukimori with the materials and her hand brushed against his. She jolted her hands away but didn't leave and instead aided the blue-haired lad in putting up the tent. "I don't care whether you have promises or whatever because there's just one thing I want you to do …" She paused and looked up at a bewildered Tsukimori Len. "…please, I want to win this race _together_ with you."

Tsukimori blinked and slowly turned to the redhead. "_Together_?" he asked in utter perplexity.

The redhead blushed and stared sideways. She could feel the penetrating glance of the lad and hoped that she had never uttered such words. "I-I mean, you know, like what we've been before in the isle, how we interacted … I want us to do the same this time, protecting each other, and racing to the peak of victory … two can play the victors, can't they?"

She smiled and felt relieved as another minute smile made its way to the lad's lips.

-

"Oi, Yunoki." Hihara stretched his arms and turned to look at the said young lad. "I was just wondering … when it was raining really hard _that_ time, what do you think have happened between Tsukimori-kun and Kaho-chan?"

The lilac-haired lad lay on the ground and turned to his side, his back on Hihara. "Why do you ask?"

The rain continued and so the tapping but Hihara remained silent for a while. "…the diary, I'm just curious … do you think Kaho-chan and—"

Before the green-head could finish his statement, he was stunned when Yunoki suddenly jolted up, his eyes wide with some sort of realization. That was it, the diary. That contained the redhead's thought about the blue-head, about Hihara, Ryoutaro, everyone, even him … when they were in the isle. A devious smirk slowly formed in his lips.

_Why not?_ he thought as he went out even if the rain was still hard as ever. "Hihara, let's go."

The cheerful green-head inclined his head to the side, wondering what his friend was up to. "Yunoki, are you up to no good?" he inquired. He was stunned when Yunoki suddenly grabbed his wrist and a coat from the tent, put the coat on himself and started to stride quickly.

"Hihara, where's the north?" asked Yunoki as his face was etched with what seemed like triumph.

Still not fully understanding Yunoki, Hihara fished something out of his pocket. "According to the compass … uh … Yunoki, I'm sorry, I don't know how to read a compass."

-

Hihara Haruki knocked on the door of the cabin in the middle of the forest, wearing an oversized raincoat and carrying with him a video tape. The door opened to reveal a widely smiling Ousaki, his eyeglasses glinting in excitement.

"Haruki-san, come in," he said as he let the young man witness the interior of the cabin.

Haruki nodded and started inside. By the fireplace sat a bored to death Kanazawa-sensei, watching with heavy-lidded eyes some boring talk show in television. When he realized another presence aside from his assistant, he looked up.

"Oh, so Haruki-san is finally here," he muttered with a yawn. "What's up with Yunoki's item?"

The young man smiled coyly as he sat beside the older man. "I found difficulty in asking for an important piece but it was such a good thing that his younger sister was kind enough to hand this over." He waved the video tape.

"A tape?" queried Kanazawa and Ousaki in unison.

…_to be continued

* * *

_

**Author's Notes:** _I am _so_ very sorry for a very late update. I know I haven't updated for two or so months so I'm really sorry. Plus, this chapter is really short and uneventful, really, sorry. _

_At any rate, thanks for those people who reviewed in the previous chapter~_

_**(1)**__ Refer to Chapter 2 [Middle of Who-Knows-Where] from 'The Isle'._

_**(2)**__ Refer to Chapter 3 [If Ever] from 'The Isle'. _

_That was all and thanks again for the awesome reviews. :) _

_**Review**__ … again? ^^,_

_~sera-chan_


	4. IV: Do Some Comprehending

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 4 – Do Some Comprehending**

Fuyuumi and her companion sweat dropped at the item they had found the next sunny day. Surely, they knew that what they were looking for was their Tsukimori-senpai's valuable photo but a photo of _that_?

Shimizu spared Fuyuumi a glance. "Ne . . . . Senpai's gonna be tortured with embarrassment . . . once . . . Hihara-senpai and . . . the others find out . . ." he mumbled, his eyes half-closed.

The teal-haired girl sighed and flushed. Without speaking, she nodded and inserted the first item they got and the next instructions into her travel bag. She was just wondering how a certain redhead who went by the name Hino Kahoko would react when Shimizu let out a sound.

"Ack."

She tilted her head to look at his direction. Goosebumps adorned her skin as her eyes settled on the blonde who was tightly clutching his left hand which, coincidentally, was bleeding at the moment.

"Sh—Shimizu-kun!" she called and she turned her whole body to face him. "W—What happened?"

Said young boy smiled a little bit sheepishly before pulling his hand away. "I accidentally . . . pierced it . . . with the tree trunk's bark."

_How come would that be? _Fuyuumi wanted to ask but fought against it as she aided her partner's bleeding finger.

"It's . . . confusing."

Fuyuumi picked her head up and stared at her partner. She opened her mouth to reply but he beat her to it.

"I thought . . . senpai's valuable photo was . . . Kaho-senpai," stated Shimizu, looking away from the teal-haired and timid girl. His eyes were overshadowed by locks of blonde tresses.

Fuyuumi's eyebrows slightly crumpled and brought her attention back to aiding Shimizu's hand. Her heart was doing a lot of beating, her stomach twisting and doing somersaults. She thought her lachrymal glands were going to produce tears yet she was thankful they didn't.

Because at that time, she already knew the reason why Shimizu accidentally hurt himself.

"A—Anou, I'll just g—go by the lake to . . . to . . . refill our . . . anou—ah, jugs," she stuttered before advancing towards the west where the lake was situated according to the map of the place with them.

Fuyuumi didn't look back at her partner as she knew he was staring at her retreating back; as she knew that tears were now forming; as she knew her legs were nearly buckling because of the pain and loud thudding in her chest cavity.

She would be dense and impractical if she would not admit something she clearly could understand. When she reached the small lake nearby, she completely collapsed herself, her face flushed with a single tear rolling down her cheeks.

Fuyuumi Shouko knew that Shimizu Keiichi did not only admire Hino Kahoko's way of playing the violin. Fuyuumi Shouko knew that now, being a normal sixteen year-old lass, she had fallen in love with the Sleeping Beauty of Seiso Academy.

_I'm so pitiable._

-

"_Achoo!_"

Tsuchiura rolled his eyes at his sneezing partner. The two of them were temporarily sharing in a tent, covered by their respective blankets. He had a slight fever while his partner had a common cold.

"Okay, so now explain to me why we're stuck here not doing anything?" demanded Amou after another loud sneeze which was followed by another.

For the second time, Tsuchiura rolled his eyes. "It's obvious that it's your fault," he retorted.

Amou frowned but didn't say anything in return.

"And we weren't even able to catch a single bit of glimpse of what we are to look for," continued Tsuchiura, glaring daggers at the young woman beside her. "And now, we're suffering of slight fever and common cold. Happy?"

It was now Amou's turn to roll her eyes. "Thanks for the sarcasm," she muttered as she adjusted the blanket around her. "Just be thankful we're still alive. Like yeah, ALIVE."

"Alive and then later on demand me to go look for that _treasure_ or valuable or whatever," the lad hit back. "You know, nothing's going to happen with your selfishness and nosiness."

Amou glared and poked Tsuchiura's arm with her long and pointy index nail. "Don't complain or I'll castrate you," she threatened.

Tsuchiura let out a mocking 'hah'. "As though you _can_."

"Nothing's really going to happen to the two of you if you're just going to spat with each other," said a very familiar cold voice. "If you might, do something productive."

The two looked up to find Tsukimori passing by with Hino Kahoko trailing behind. She was giggling and later on playfully punched Tsukimori's arm who merely scowled at her.

"I'll _castrate_ you if you complain, Tsukimori-kun!" she teased, later on laughing.

When they were completely eaten by the bunch of trees ahead, Amou and Tsuchiura exchanged looks.

Amou cleared her throat before heading out of the tent and facing her partner. She dragged her hands on her hips and urged Tsuchiura to look up at her.

With a smirk, she noted, "Just did the two _flirted_ with each other?"

Tsuchiura almost let out a gagging sound. "Hino and Tsukimori? _Flirting_? Would you please use a better word?"

Amou's smirk merely stretched out. "It's quite obvious—with that _playfully_ punching the arm," she said before laughing a bit. Later on, her eyes twinkled with excitement. "If you don't want the word _flirting_, then I bet _behaving alluringly_ would do?"

The green-haired lad frowned. Really, Amou could just suddenly jump from conclusions to conclusions. Was she connoting something that Kahoko liked Tsukimori?

He sighed. Like he cared.

"_Achoo!_" sneezed Amou who grinned toothily at him. His eyes narrowed.

-

As the last notes of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 15, No. 2 came to a pleasant end, Ousaki Shinobu cleared his throat and pushed his eyeglasses up to the bridge of his nose. He, together with Kanazawa-sensei and Hihara Haruki, had just witnessed one of the best performances they had ever seen and heard.

The player in the video was such a piano prodigy—such a virtuoso. If they knew nothing, they would have thought that the young boy in the tape was now a celebrated pianist.

But they knew much more than that.

"Okay," said Haruki as he scratched the back of his head, "I knew nothing when it comes to music but to know that my brother's best friend was the one playing in that video . . ."

". . . is quite unbelievable," continued Kanazawa-sensei as he pulled a stick of cigarette and lit it.

Ousaki ejected the tape from the player and heaved a sigh. He smiled at the two and shrugged.

"I guess this is life," he said. "All comes unpredictably as though it was spur-of-the-moment. Life is definitely full with different shades of vagary."

Haruki took his cup of tea and sipped from it. "Well now, if you're going to grade that performance . . . ?"

Kanazawa-sensei merely shrugged his shoulders, a puff of smoke emitted from his mouth. "I'm likely to call him a virtuoso . . . only . . . his flair isn't much polished . . . although that's quite expected—Yunoki seemed young in that video."

"Seven? Nine?"

Again, the lazy teacher of Seiso Academy raised and dropped his shoulders briefly. "Who knows?"

Ousaki smiled. "But say, the performance was quite prodigious."

Haruki dragged his hands under his chin, posing in a thinking gesture. "I'm wondering if Yunoki played flute instead because that was what he fancies or . . . he was just . . ."

". . . forced into doing it?" continued Ousaki, standing up and approaching the windows of the small cabin in the middle of the forest. He adjusted the venetian blinds and let strips of sunlight to escape through it. "Let's just hope not . . ."

He sighed and watched as birds chirped loudly outside, perched on a tree branch. The sky was clear, not a single sign of the rain that took place yesterday and last night.

_. . . because it would be disappointing to know that he's not playing the flute because he loves the music it produces_, thought Ousaki, continuing his unfinished statement.

"Piano, eh?" mumbled Haruki as he picked his teacup and saucer, bringing it to the kitchenette. He carefully propped it on the counter and leaned, crossing his arms across his chest. He rubbed his chin with his right hand before sighing. "I've got this feeling in my gut that not everyone in the concours knows about Yunoki's surprising talent in playing the piano."

Kanazawa raised his eyebrows. "What made you say that?"

Ousaki snickered as he faced the two. "Hihara Kazuki not knowing is enough proof, ne, Haruki-san?"

-

Hihara's face crumpled with slight plain as his palms got slight cuts. He was digging the soft and muddy (to some extent) soil in search for the diary of the resident redhead in the group. Yunoki, on the other hand, was climbing up some tree in hope to find the item on top when he sneezed.

"Bless you," said Hihara indifferently. He frowned and looked up at the placard stuck on the tree trunk where Yunoki was clinging on. In the placard, the word "Here" was written.

"You know, I don't think it's here," he stated, suddenly sitting on the muddy ground. "I'm tired and my hands, just look at them!"

Yunoki ignored his complaints and helped himself onto the tree branch. When he got up there, he stood up on it and used the rest of the trunk as his support.

Hihara looked up at him.

"And I didn't know you can actually get up there," he commented.

Yunoki shrugged and looked around.

"You're really that interested in Kaho-chan's diary, huh?" continued Hihara as he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand.

"You know, you're speaking too much," remarked Yunoki. He shrugged when Hihara sent him a pointed stare complimented with a pout. "I'm just saying."

"And you're too quiet, I realized."

Hihara immediately and hastily stood up from his sitting position, waving his hands in front of him when Yunoki's face turned gloomy and . . . dark. "Damn! I'm just saying! Is there any problem, Yunoki?" he defended. "Is your Yunoki cult finally getting on your nerves?"

The green-head's eyes merely widened at his idiocy. "Ah sheesh, just . . . what the hell is your problem, Yunoki?" he demanded, a frown of worry evident on his perspiring face. "You suddenly turned silent when we reached this place!"

Yunoki closed his eyes and purposely made his feet slip on the round branch, causing Hihara to yelp in surprise. Surprisingly, he was safely sitting on the branch after slipping carelessly on the tree branch.

"When was the last time I was ever given freedom to go in camping?" he asked, his voice soft. "When was the last time I was given the liberation to make myself covered in mud, make myself run under the rain?"

Hihara stared at him, his mouth hanging. When he registered Yunoki's words in his head, a small smile formed in his lips.

"You're asking the obvious, do you know that?" he asked, dragging his hands on his hips in a teasingly reprimanding way.

The purple-haired lad's eyes hastily shot open at his friend's statement and looked down at the green-head, hare-brained friend of his. "What do you mean obvious? Do you know what you're saying?"

"Hah, of course I know what I'm saying!" said Hihara proudly, climbing on the tree himself. Yunoki's brows were furrowed when he gave space for his friend. Hihara sat comfortably beside his purple-haired partner and gave him an awkward one-armed hug by the shoulder. "When was the last time you were given freedom? Isn't it obvious that now, _right now_, you're free? You got yourself dirty, wet, and stinky. Yet don't deny the fact that you're happy, Yunoki. I know you that much."

Said young man stared at his companion before his lips slowly curled into a meaningful yet small smile.

". . . Idiot."

Hihara let out a small laugh before extending his other hand towards Yunoki, asking for a handshake.

"And you're a much bigger idiot because you haven't figured that out before this idiot beside you."

-

"Tsukimori-kun, when would I see you ever laugh?" asked Kahoko as she watched Tsukimori jumped down from the slightly high mound they were on.

The blue-haired lad landed on the lower ground with ease, not even breaking a sweat. He didn't reply, though, he just turned back to her, his eyes boring to her, silently demanding her to do the same thing he did.

Jumping off that high mound, that was.

"Crap."

Tsukimori raised an eyebrow at this. "I hate wasting time."

Kahoko rubbed the back of her head, smiling and chuckling nervously. She twisted a few strands of red hair in between of her fingers as she slightly fidgeted under his gaze. Tsukimori's eyes merely narrowed at these actions of hers.

"There's no other direction and way other than this," he said, his gaze slowly morphing into a glare. "And this way is my proposition, Hino."

When the redhead continued to hesitate, the Tsukimori lad heaved a deep sigh. "Jump now," he said and hesitated before continuing, "I'm here below to catch you if ever you fall off."

Kahoko merely gulped and looked back over her shoulder, hoping someone or something would come and happen.

"Don't you trust me?"

The lass squeezed her eyes shut. "Of course I trust you, Tsukimori-kun," she said. "It's just that—AH!"

It was just that she found her leg being pulled down by Tsukimori. She had to admit that her heart seemed to finally shoot off from her chest cavity, breaking her breast bone into shards. Yet she felt secure.

She immediately wrapped her arms around Tsukimori's neck when she felt herself bouncing through the lad's surprisingly physically powerful arms. Well, it was reflex.

She opened her left eye first to peek at Tsukimori before completely opening her other eye. Tsukimori was staring at her in deep concentration that eventually made her face flush.

"You didn't trust me."

Kahoko opened her mouth to protest but Tsukimori beat her to it.

"I didn't know . . ." he mumbled before placing her down to the ground. Kahoko fixed her crumpled shirt and stared expectantly at him.

"Believe me, Tsukimori-kun, I trust you!" she explained. "It was just that after all our struggles in the sea, the tight spots that we had in the isle, I just . . . I think they caused me some mental ordeal—I don't know—"

". . . that your eyelashes were the ones that made your eyes beguiling."

Kahoko stopped mid-sentence and stared at her partner who turned his back on her. Was she dreaming that _the _Tsukimori Len found her eyes attracting because of her apparently long eyelashes?

"What?"

"Let's go, I don't appreciate losing in a game," he said as he started to tread towards the south.

The young man with Kahoko didn't notice the contented and genuinely blissful smile that graced her lips.

Perhaps Tsukimori Len's unpredictable remarks made her love him. She just hoped he knew.

. . . _to be continued_

**Author's Notes: **_To all the people reading and supporting this fanfiction, especially to those who spared their time to vote in the poll I made to help me decide, thank you. I may not know who those seventeen people were but I'm quite certain that those people are either close online friends or avid supporters. You may not know it but your decision is now my decision. _

_To those seventeen unique voters, sixteen (16) opted The Camp to be continued and one (1) has decided that I shouldn't. But nevertheless, still, thank you. _

_Now, this update was through the help of my best friend, __**c3xv-011-**__, who never failed to support me in writing and helping me with ideas to write. Another thank note would be for my fervent imouto (although not really related), __**kei-chan-19**__, who really sent me a PM weeks ago at almost 10:30 in the evening after reading this just to tell me to go on - ah, she's also inspired me._

_Last thing and foremost, to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorite-d, you were the people who inspired me the most. I may not be able to jot down the pen names of every one of you but I know that you know who you are. Keep making authors happy. Not only me but also to everyone else. :)_

_Now . . . __**Review**__?_

_©sera-chan_


	5. V: Everything's Too Random

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 5 – Everything's Too Random**

Hino Kahoko stared at Tsukimori Len's outstretched calloused left hand and then back at his tantalizing eyes. She badly wanted to ask him what he was actually doing but then it was quite certain that the young cerulean-haired lad was asking her to—

"Just take my hand," insisted Tsukimori, his bullion eyes never leaving her figure.

His light shade of blue hair was slightly tousled because of sudden cold gust of wind and another uninvited light rain. It almost seemed that rains and drizzle were permanent parts of their _strong_ partnership that every time they were together and were in the middle of an undesirable situation, there would suddenly be a shower.

The redhead, on the other hand, remained still and standing, dried yet slightly moist leaves rasping beneath her feet. She felt her mouth hang and once again, she let her eyes travel back towards Tsukimori's waiting and extended hand.

"I—" She paused and fidgeted, a blush creeping up to her cheeks. Sheepishly, she smiled and asked, "Is it necessary, Tsukimori-kun?"

As though realizing the absurdity of his action, said Tsukimori averted his gaze from her although he didn't pull his hand down.

Above the two, the tall trees' leaves seemed to dance as another pack of wind blew past. The dried fallen leaves on the ground swooshed and followed the wind's direction as it circled around.

"You would not want us to separate," stated Tsukimori at last as he was about to pull his hand down.

Almost too quickly, Kahoko caught his withdrawing hand and grinned good-naturedly.

"If that's so, let's better go and win this game!" exclaimed the redhead lass, flame of will burning in her eyes.

For the second time in their camp, Kahoko saw that wonderful small smile tugging the Tsukimori lad's lips. A small blush lit her cheeks up at the sight.

Hands entangled with each other, the pair started to advance towards the direction of their first item.

It was this feeling that Kahoko liked and yet hated. There was the sudden palpitation, internal somersaults, and buckling of the knees. What she liked, though, was the heat slowly enclosing in her whole.

It was . . . intoxicating.

Her thoughts were disturbed when Tsukimori tugged on her hand.

"Eh? Is there a problem, Tsukimori-kun?" asked the redhead as she picked her head up to look at her companion. "Tsukimori-kun?"

Almost so suddenly, the pair halted from walking. Kahoko was so curious that she decided to follow the direction her partner was ogling at.

At the sight, Kahoko felt her stomach churn.

"_What_ do you suggest we do?" Tsukimori unexpectedly asked, not removing his gaze from the disturbing scene.

The redhead gulped, tightened her grip on Tsukimori's hand, and shut her eyes firmly closed. Then _it_ hit her.

_The_ Tsukimori Len was asking for her proposition. Heat crawled to her neck although she didn't open her eyes just yet.

He was asking for her suggestion . . .

"Turn, leave, and run away?" She stepped back when she heard _the _hiss. She took in a big breath. "We can't wait here, can we?"

Whenever something exotic would come meet her sight, it was already intuition working that she would immediately hark back the moment she and her current companion faced some terrible-looking Japanese black bear.

"Hino," she heard Tsukimori's voice call. She nodded at him despite having her eyes closed to cue him that she was acknowledging whatever he wanted to say. "We can't do your suggestion with your eyes closed."

_Oh_, Kahoko thought as she slowly opened her eyes.

Cold beads of sweat trickled down from her forehead as she once again laid eyes at the poor, broken raven that was utterly annihilated by the weird-looking and glaring snake.

"Yet . . . I suggest that we don't move."

Kahoko's head hastily turned to her partner, her eyes painted with incredulity.

"_What_?"

Tsukimori remained unmoved by Kahoko's disbelieving tone. "We're in a reasonable distance. Let us just let it be that way."

Hesitantly, Kahoko smiled. As a teasing stance, she nudged on Tsukimori's arm with her elbow and said, "I guess you really learned a lot from our experience in the isle, ne?"

Tsukimori didn't respond and Kahoko started to hate herself for ever teasing _the _Tsukimori Len. Her partner mumbled something under his breath as they watched the prey slither away.

The redhead swore her heart missed a beat.

"It's to protect you."

Assuming that Tsukimori didn't say that to make it known to her, Kahoko tried her very best to act normal—as though she didn't really hear anything although in fact, she heard the whole statement faultlessly.

She cleared her throat, adjusted her backpack, and said, "So . . . I think it's safe to continue again . . . ?"

. . . And she wasn't planning on letting Tsukimori's hand go either.

Her partner looked at her before nodding, allowing her to lead the whole way towards the _south_ as was instructed in the card in the envelope.

They passed through high and low slopes; ducked underneath low-hanging tree-branches; shoved annoying hanging vines off; and climbed reasonably high lands. They did this all without minding each other's presence at all.

They did these all as though it was the most natural thing they could do—as though it was totally right.

They did these all without letting go of each other's hands and only did occasionally.

Most importantly, they did these all with trust in each other.

As they reached another high land, Tsukimori supported Kahoko all the way up. When they reached the top, Kahoko realized that all their perspiration was worth it—that everything their eyes were staring at was worth seeing.

"W—Wow!" stuttered Kahoko, her eyes shimmering with utmost amusement. She turned her whole body back around to face Tsukimori who was now standing at her back. "Tsukimori-kun, this is amazing! Look!"

Tsukimori had the impulsive urge to roll his eyes at the redhead's apparent naiveté.

The rain had stopped, the sun was up, and every single thing in nature seemed to sparkle with beauty.

Lilies, anemones, tulips, and many more bed of different flowers were seemingly glimmering. It seemed like a realistic painting. As Kahoko looked farther, these beds of flowers seemed to completely clash with the puffy clouds and sky and a small rainbow was complimenting the landscape.

Somewhere, the pair knew that the first item assigned on them was just around.

Tsukimori pushed his travel backpack off of his shoulders and let it fall onto the ground. He fixed his crumpled hooded sweatshirt and pocketed one hand.

Kahoko watched in amazement as Tsukimori passed through a cleared way amidst the many flowers as was the Red Sea when it divided in Biblical history. It was then that she realized that at the center of the landscape was a huge, black chunk of rock, a placard on a long piece of wood beside it, an arrow pointing at it.

The redhead's lips broke into a wide and victorious grin.

Their first task was a success.

_Thanks, Tsukimori-kun_.

-

Fuyuumi mirrored herself through the crystal clear waters of the lake and stared too long. She found that her eyes looked too miserable—but she couldn't quite blame herself. It was too melancholic.

She found that a new set of salty tears would spring so instantly, she covered her eyes with her hands, hoping it would stop.

She was such a crybaby, she knew. And every moment she would let tears fall, it was always her mother who comforted her. When they were trapped in that isle for two days, and the many times she cried, it was always _Shimizu Keiichi_ who was there to comfort her.

The teal-headed girl took in deep breaths and composed herself. Although her eyebrows were still knitted upwards together, there were no longer any signs that she cried.

. . . only a little blush, that was.

Fuyuumi silently took the water jug from beside her and stood up, ready to return to the place where she had left her partner.

She stood still in front of the lake as another set of shower came from the clouds. The droplets of water hit her skin and she then decided to turn around only to find her blonde partner a few meters away from her, staring at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

Her eyes widened by a few millimeters.

"You . . . cried, Fuyuumi . . . san," mumbled Shimizu as droplets of rain fall onto his lashes. "I . . . I saw you . . ."

Fuyuumi's heart throbbed so badly she thought she would have an attack. She clutched her chest and opened her mouth to speak and yet no words arrived to be heard out. She blushed in embarrassment and fidgeted.

"You . . . were gone for . . . too long . . . . I decided to . . . follow," explained her partner as he remained standing under one huge tree.

The young lass pursed her lips together and slowly, she drew closer to him.

"I—"

"Is there . . . a problem . . . Fuyuu . . . mi-san?"

The young lass hesitated although she continued approaching him.

"I—I j—just—"

Before she could finish, a cold soft breeze swept by, making her whole body shiver. As an unfortunate result, she had a misstep.

"Ah!"

"Fuyuumi-san!"

The teal-haired girl felt herself fall on the ground and felt her right ankle twist. A small yelp of pain escaped her lips and a streak of tear escaped from her eyes, mixing in with the streaks of water droplets on her face.

She kept telling herself not to cry, do not cry, Shimizu was there and was probably thinking how stupid she was to slip. The young Fuyuumi heard hurried footfalls, the person definitely wondering, certainly worried.

". . . Fuyuu—" said Shimizu as he slowly reached out for her but she merely pushed his hand off with a small nervous and embarrassed smile, a blush garnishing her cheeks. " . . . Fuyuumi-san . . . ?"

The blonde turned to stare at her bruised ankles, drops of rain hitting on it. His eyes went on to his companion's stunning miserable face. ". . . Is . . . something . . . troubling you, Fuyuumi-san?" he asked, the rain slowly soaking his shirt.

Fuyuumi ignored the small puddle of mud forming beside her and looked up at her partner. Her face flushed as his eyes with hers and she immediately looked away.

"I—I—I . . ." she stuttered, blushing as she thought she was someone to be ashamed of. Her eyes snapped back to him when an arm extended towards her. She looked up, curious.

With a smile, Shimizu answered her questioning eyes with a tight grip on her hand, a strong pull, and supporting arms.

As Fuyuumi's right ankle was sprained, she missed her balance and with widened eyes, her face instantly made contact with Shimizu's chest. The sleepy lad answered it with a sudden urge to embrace her in a warm and welcoming hug.

The Fuyuumi lass's eyes widened, in alarm, heat instantly present inher face.

Everything about Kaho-senpai was completely forgotten as Shimizu spoke with his usual tone, "It's not . . . bad to . . . cry . . ."

And Fuyuumi, then, did cry.

For a very long moment, they stood there under the mild shower until the sun shone once again. The said shower had abruptly stopped, the place being uncovered from the dark shadows of the clouds above.

The pair did nothing particularly. They merely stood there, immobile as a statue, and refraining from uttering a word.

That was until Shimizu spoke once again.

"It's . . . about me . . . Kaho-senpai . . . and you, isn't it?" muttered Shimizu as an arm encircling her form slid off. ". . . Or . . . feelings and . . . sadness and . . . disappointment?"

-

"Like, it's been thirty minutes, you know!" complained Hihara Kazuki as he wiped his sweaty forehead with his muddy forearm. Slowly, he looked up the clear sky.

He and Yunoki hadn't given up from digging the ground or climbing from tree to tree. They didn't even hid the slight showering earlier and still continued their business. Yet . . . everything was but futile—they hadn't seen a single sign of Kahoko's diary.

Hihara huffed and puffed.

"Yunoki, oi, I don't think it's around here . . ." he voiced out, staring at his friend who was now leaning on the trunk of the tree they had been minutes earlier. "Maybe onii-chan is doing some kind of prank with us . . . I wonder how Kaho-chan is doing?"

The purple-haired young man briefly raised and dropped his shoulders. "She's probably enjoying her time with Tsukimori-kun," he said at which his companion blushed at. "Anyway, if it's not on the ground, not hanging by the trees, then perhaps—"

Hihara's eyes widened. "THE PLACARD! Yunoki!"

Yunoki raised a confused eyebrow at his green-headed friend as said young man removed the pinned placard from the trunk with great force. The thumbtacks used to pin it flew off and same did Hihara as he landed butt first on the ground, the placard in his hand.

As Hihara had pulled the placard off, another foreign item slipped out, flying towards the Yunoki who strategically reached out and caught the said thing.

With a smile, the lilac-haired said, "Great job, Hihara."

Hihara's eyes snapped at Yunoki before he grinned and approached his friend.

"No wonder we can't find it," remarked Hihara as he looked over his friend's shoulder and onto the item they were in search of. "Since it is just that thin and small, there's no doubt onii-chan hid it in there."

Yunoki stared at his friend before a small smile broke up—a small smile that, once again, didn't quite reach his eyes.

A light tugging at the pit of his stomach was urging him to remove the thin note from its plastic that kept it from getting wet due to the morning dew and occasional showers.

Hihara was staring at him with a knowing look. "Read that diary or eat our lunch first?"

Yunoki shook his head playfully and sighed at his friend. "You know what I want."

Hihara did a peace sign through his hand. "Then, let's go on and read it!"

-

Tsukimori walked on, sporadically tugging tall grasses off that caused some scratches on his hand.

"Tsukimori-kun! Be careful, your hand!" warned Kahoko as she followed Tsukimori. "I thought you told me before that I should be—"

"Hihara-senpai failed to inform us all about something that would bring the losers to their end," said Tsukimori. Kahoko halted behind him and stared at his back.

"W—What? What do you mean?"

Slowly, Tsukimori reached the huge chunk of rock and on top of it, their first item, a pocket-sized album, was taped with a tight duct tape.

"When we were at the train station, I heard Kanazawa-sensei say something about embarrassing consequences for pathetic losers," explained Tsukimori as he endeavored on pulling the tapes off of their item.

-

". . . but within the three of us . . ." continued Shimizu, lightly pushing Fuyuumi off and grasping her shoulders. With his eyes staring at hers, he asked," "Who is the . . . major reason . . . you cried?"

Fuyuumi looked down at her pained ankle, heart accelerating abnormally. She wanted to lie yet she wasn't brought up to do so either.

Without so much a hint of hesitance, she finally spoke her answer.

"Ka—I—yo—" Fuyuumi looked up. "Me."

_. . . to be continued_

**Author's Notes: **_I'm furious! I lost my only copy of the plot for The Camp and Oblivion of Melodies! The plot for the two fan fictions are already finished for already a month and the only thing I have to do is to put further details, prolong it, improvise it, and voila, it's finished! But what the hell? It's gooone. :| I'm not happy, obviously. I've already finished the sixth chapter for this and I still don't have the next ones and I won't be able to do so without THAT CRAPPY PIECE OF PAPER. _

_If I have known so much, I should have just encoded it in MS Word and save it in my email, in FFnet's Document Manager, in my flashdrive, in my phone, and many other gadgets possible for saving documents. I'm certainly furious._

_Anyway, to those reading "Oblivion of Melodies" or "OoM" as __**random-panda-chan**__ refers to (like, finally, I have a shortened name for it!!), there's no update just yet~ and I won't be able to do the next update without THAT ANNOYING CRAPPY PIECE OF PAPER. And I'm certainly tired of rethinking what is to be happening in the story. ARGH!_

_Thanks to the following: __**. Streiter . Destiny . Miseki . **__,_ _**Pathetic Rainbow**__,__** kei-chan-19 **_(no Happy Tree Friends, imouto!)_,__** gizelle-chan**__,__** aris-chan**__,__** little miss flutterfly**__,__** myka**__,__** random-panda-chan**__, __**elaine**__,__** gAm3fr3Akal**__, __**redsakuranbo **_(I wonder if you've received my PM?)_,__** crimsonlotus258**_

_**Review!**_

_©sera-chan_

_p.s. Please help me reach 100 reviews? I'd love to receive such number of reviews! XD Oh. And I'll not update unless I get what I want. Hah. Just joking. :)) _

_p.p.s. Forgive the erroneous grammar. I didn't proofread.  
_


	6. VI: What True Feelings Are

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 6 – What True Feelings Are**

Tsuchiura Ryoutaro sighed as he watched his partner munch on the chocolate bar that was, in reality, the first item they needed and searched for a whole day. He wished to bet that his partner was in the 'time of the month' thing, the main reason why they kept on bickering, and bickering, and bickering.

Nonstop.

Amou stopped from chewing the piece of dark sweet at her hand and spared him a look. With eyebrows raised, she asked, "What?"

Tsuchiura shrugged and jabbed the long stick he picked up earlier that day onto the soft and muddy ground. Another thing that made them bicker now was the fact that he was moody for no reason at all.

He found it weird, though. They always got along with the press things and now, with partnership things, they _never_ get along.

Again, he sighed. Scratching the back of his head, he leaned on the big tree trunk they were currently using as a shed and shrugged.

"I think _that_ thing you're currently eating is essential," he said. "We'll need that at the end of the game."

The fair-head girl let out a 'hah' sound as she shoved another cube of chocolate onto her mouth. She chewed with exaggeration and stared pointedly at her male partner.

"I'm telling you," she started, "that by the time we reach the end of the game, this gonna be nothing."

Tsuchiura raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, yeah, right."

Amou harrumphed and the two remained silent for the next few minutes. The sun was setting and hopefully, by tomorrow, rain wouldn't just come and go as it wished.

"Oi, Amou-san, why not read our next task?" inquired the green-head lad as he slid down next to the girl. "Before the sun completely sets and before I put up our tents for tonight, why not know what our next task first?"

The young journalist nodded her head in agreement as she crumpled the box that contained the chocolate they saw and shoved it inside her travel bag. She stood up and fished the note from the back pocket of her jeans.

"Hurry," ordered Tsuchiura with traces of annoyance.

"Ugh, I need your patience, duh," countered Amou, finally pulling the note out from her pocket. She held it with her two hands and showed it to Tsuchiura. "See?"

Tsuchiura rolled his eyes. "Read it."

"Gah, fine!" Amou frowned as she pulled out the note from its plastic covering and unfastened it from the staple wire that kept it intact. "Okay, so here goes."

_Congratulations, you've finished your first task. Don't worry, you may eat those chocolates. But you'll have to face heavy consequence, dearies, whoever you may be._

Tsuchiura's eyes widened in disbelief and he turned to glare at Amou who merely made a peace sign with her hand.

"Whatever that consequence be, it's your entire fault we'd have to face it," stated Tsuchiura while Amou started acting as though she didn't hear a thing he said and instead clear her throat.

_For the second task, head to the Northwest of this forest and start searching for Yunoki Azuma's item. So far, we haven't figured out what item that could be but hopefully, by the time you've read this, we already got the mysterious item and it would already in place. Another placard will be telling you whether you're at his chosen valuables already._

_Good luck._

The two stared at the small note then to each other.

"Okay."

"So?"

Tsuchiura expectantly waited. Finally, Amou said, "We're going to look for something we actually don't know whether it exists."

Tsuchiura's eyebrows twitched. "One thing, the person who's behind the rule of heavy consequence would face heavy consequence as well."

-

"Achoo!"

Ousaki and the older Hihara shared a similar expression as they stared at Kanazawa-sensei. "Bless you . . . ?" they both muttered simultaneously.

-

Finally, the sun had completely set and the place was certainly covered with darkness. Cold breeze was now present, scary whistling of the treetops was now heard, and the only light lighting up their place was the fire created by Tsuchiura.

Amou watched as the flames flickered, her shoulders covered with blanket. She and Tsuchiura had just finished eating dinner and all she did was complain.

"I feel so sticky," she complained.

Tsuchiura shrugged his shoulders. "I thought you've already changed inside your tent?"

"Yeah, I have! I've changed my every thing but I don't feel totally clean! Like, my hair feels so greasy and I didn't bring my deodorant with me and . . . ugh!!! One thing I hate about myself, I can't leave without proper sanitation. I want to take a bath! Kami-sama!"

"If you would please, stop complaining now as my ears are tired and I want to sleep," shot Tsuchiura as he yawned, the corner of his eyes sparkling with tears of sleepiness.

Amou remained silent for a while until a sly grin broke into her lips. She gave Tsuchiura a mischievous smile before leaning on towards him.

Eyes narrowing and slightly twitching, Tsuchiura's mouth formed a frown.

"What?"

"I would stop my complaints in one condition," said Amou as she wiggled her right index finger in a meaningful way.

Tsuchiura huffed and shook his head. "I'm sorry but I'd rather you complain rather than your conditions."

The girl across him pouted. "Fine! Then I'll tell Kaho-chan that when you were a kid, I found out, you were used to wearing your au—"

"FINE! WHAT CONDITION?!" cried Tsuchiura, his face flabbergasted and blushing.

Amou chuckled. "That's my magical prowess, Tsuchiura-chi, that's my magical prowess," she said with a very heavy ego placed on top of her head. "Back to my condition, all you have to do is answer my easy question."

"What question? Hurry up, I want to sleep."

Amou's smile widened and Tsuchiura hated it. "Kaho-chan is beautiful . . . talented, even, when it comes to violin. It's no doubt. She's obviously the apple in the eyes of Tsukimori Len and . . . I _think_ and _believe_ you yourself."

Tsuchiura swore. He didn't like where this was going.

"Mori-san, on the other hand, is quite playful with her feelings, don't you agree?"

So . . . Tsuchiura definitely could swear. Something was up. "Why is she suddenly injected in this conversation?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"I'm just saying! Mori-san is beautiful, too. Just look at her! Her eyes are so . . . optimistic, aren't they? And she's a good pianist as well, don't you think?"

Tsuchiura didn't speak words out to voice out his agreement but instead, he nodded.

"My point is . . . both Kaho-chan and Mori-san are good musicians . . . beautiful and cute, too," added Amou as she winked at her partner. Tsuchiura's face was shaded with a light shade of red at this. "But you see, I think Kaho-chan develops this sort of feeling for our prodigious violinist. I'd now get on to my _real_ point."

Tsuchiura waited for a few more seconds before his eyes completely narrowed. Amou was just simply too silly.

"Given the choice of Kaho-chan and Mori-san, who'd you choose?"

-

_Stranded in an isle. That's one thing I never did expect. From one innocent plan of having a free vacation in Hawaii, we ended up in a troubling situation instead. Fear, bewilderment, worry, anxiety, vexation, and love flooded me, flooded us, and flooded the isle. I don't know how I should explain things._

_I want to call you my diary. Journal, if you please but still, since you're private, I want you to be my diary, I want to share whatever I felt. _

_As we were in the isle, stranded, I found out three important things._

_First, I value life. _

_Many times have I wished to die, be swallowed by the ground from embarrassment, be murdered, be killed, and be lost. Many times have I complained. Many times have I blamed the unfairness of life. They were too many times to count._

_But when I was in the isle, I realized how I value life so much. _

_Still, I was lucky. Pure luck was what saved me and my life and soul. Tsukimori-kun was there, saving me, protecting me with all his might. He saved my life. By then, I realized I love my life._

_Next thing I found out was the fact that I love . . . my friends and everyone else._

_I can't live all alone. My friends are the sweetest ingredients in my life. They are the icing that garnishes the cake that is me; they are the cherries that added sweetness to fruit salads; they are the screen of a computer; they are the legs of my body; they are the river of water of a weak paper boat. _

_They are my pillar of support. They are my inspiration._

_Last thing I've learned was the very idea of me being—_

-

"Tsukimori-kun, I've always wished to ask you . . . do you . . . now play the violin because that makes you happy?" asked Hino Kahoko with utmost hesitance.

Tsukimori shot his head up and stared back at her.

-

—_irrevocably and truly in love—_

-

For a very long time, they stared at each other's eyes as though they began to get lost in the deepness and cores of each other's.

-

—_with Tsukimori-kun._

-

". . ." and he mouthed his answer.

As Tsukimori's mouth moved as though in slow motion, Kahoko's eyes slowly widened. Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated and she had this sudden palpitation.

Her legs seemed to turn jelly and her stomach seemed to dance restlessly. It seemed that once again, after that little incidence in the isle, she felt another set of butterflies in her stomach.

Her mouth hung agape.

"No. Because it makes _you_ happy."

-

_It's as though our hands, when touched by each other's skin, were made for each other. It's as though my hands fitted his perfectly when he held mine just to protect me, to run with me, and to never leave me behind. _

_Diary or journal—or whatever—do you consider me lucky for having met him? For having met Tsukimori-kun who somehow swore to protect me?_

_I thought he is cold but contrary to popular belief, he was forcing his true caring self inside of him and imprisoned it, not letting it out of its cell. _

_Quite funnily, he showed his true self to me._

-

"Tsukimori-kun . . . do you like me?"

-

_I won't forget the times when he—_

Yunoki stopped from reading the page and scanned the others. Out of the thin notebook, only five pages were filled. He thought it would just be about 'Tsukimori-kun and Tsukimori-kun and Tsukimori-kun,' anyway.

Hihara returned from his call of nature and sat down beside him.

With a curious stare, he asked, "So, anything interesting in there, Yunoki?"

Said young man with long lilac hair shrugged, and put down the notebook on his lap and started playing with his long hair. It might have shocked Hihara but Yunoki did sigh at that moment.

"Is there?" Hihara reiterated, still waiting for an answer.

Yunoki didn't give any comment or complaints so Hihara got the notebook and browsed through it. Feeling excited, he started with the last page of the entry and read.

_I'm quite confused since I was so sure that everyone was asleep by then. After stargazing that night, everyone immediately went to sleep and since we were by the riverbank, I decided to take a cold bath as I took advantage of no one watching._

_Okay. So what actually confused me was the fact that I thought someone actually saw me nu—_

Hihara gulped and blushed furiously.

—_de_.

"AAAH!" he suddenly cried, throwing the notebook off as though it was something to be disgusted of.

Alarmed, Yunoki patted Hihara at the back and calmly asked him what the problem was. What was weird was Hihara smiling nervously and started mumbling about something like, _"She saw me . . . oh no . . . she saw me . . . what???? Did she really see me???? No. She just thought someone watched her take a . . ."_

And Hihara started yelling once again. "AAAH!"

"Hihara, what's the problem?"

When the green-head didn't reply, Yunoki picked the notebook up, turned on the last page of Kahoko's entry and started to read the first word when Hihara bolted upwards and tried to pry it off from him.

"What are you doing?" demanded Yunoki as he didn't let go.

Hihara blushed and shook his head. "Don't read! Don't read!"

Yunoki cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. That simply made him want to know more. Much more than naturally intended.

They ended up having a tug-of-war –like game featuring Kahoko's supposed diary.

"Look, Hihara, whatever you've read, I'm sure it's not about you," explained Yunoki as he pulled the half of the notebook towards him. "It seemed that Hino-san merely wrote everything about Tsuki—"

"No! Just don't reaaaaa—!"

Unfortunately for the two of them, the thin notebook was ripped into two as the force exerted by the two was strong. They stumbled backwards from the force and the leaves of the thin notebook flew off.

Pieces fell and fell and Yunoki caught one.

_Yunoki-senpai . . . I'm confused. Does he like me or like before . . . was he playing games with me?_

-

Shimizu let out something akin to a snort as he stared at the picture at his hand.

He wondered how his senpai-tachi would react once they see what Tsukimori's important photo was.

Fuyuumi, too, after recovering from the little drama just a while had passed, stared at the photo at her partner's hand.

The two of them pursed their lips as their eyes traced the beautiful angles of the image printed on the photo paper.

They both ogled the nice color of gold, the intricate angle and construction, and the beautiful thing itself.

Tsukimori's violin.

-

"Given the choice of Kaho-chan and Mori-san, who'd you choose?"

Tsuchiura stared, with eyes twitching, at Amou Nami. "Are you expecting me to answer that absurd question?"

Amou narrowed her eyes. "It's rude to answer a question with another question, Tsuchiura-chi."

Tsuchiura rolled his eyes. She was _somehow_ getting on his nerves. "Fine. Then I'd say, Kanazawa-sensei. PERIOD. 'Kay, thanks, bye."

Amou glared while Tsuchiura remained unmoved.

"If you won't mind, I'd like to go to a deep slumber for now," said the green-head young man as he made a way for a yawn.

The fair-haired girl beside him pouted. "Party pooper."

_. . . to be continued_

**author's notes: **i've been meaning to update this earlier. but then, i haven't proofread yet and i still had to fix a lot of errors. we just had our finals but now . . . I'm totally free. yay.

may i ask you a favor? please review? i've been receiving the alerts and favorites messages but . . . where's the review? i mean, it's flattering, you know, but somehow, receiving feedbacks from people proves to be much flattering. :) so please review?

thanks, btw! XD

**side note: thank you to the people who helped me out with my predicament with my friend/imouto. your help means so much to me. thank you. please pm me- all you who did help so i really know who did. :)**

**thank you, too, to soledad20. :) don't worry. here's the update. i just really had some problem with establishing an interent connection.**


	7. VII: Open Your Eyes And You'll See

**-**

**THE CAMP**

**-**

**Chapter 7 – Open Your Eyes and You'll See**

Another day had passed since the start of their game. All groups had found the first of the items assigned on them respectively and were now on for the next item(s).

That whole day, every pair had gone ducking from low-hanging branches, sneaking past dangerous forest animals, climbing up trees, and jumping off from shallow cliffs. But that day also proved to be the unluckiest—to three pairs, that was. Because a certain pair had been able to find their next and last task without so much as breaking a sweat.

Shimizu Keiichi and Fuyuumi Shouko—the promising victors.

-

Silence was the only thing that seemed to be existing between the youngest pair. They hadn't opened their mouths to talk, to share convenience, and to ask whether the other one was alright or not.

The only moments they would be talking would be when it was involving their task.

Fuyuumi clutched the new note they had found together with the second and, apparently, last item they needed to find.

They had done it. All they needed to do was to come within the reach of the finish line. But something was oddly wrong. Anxious, she heeded her partner who was sitting on the ground, leaning on a tree, elbows atop his bended knees, head angled to the ground.

She bit her lower lip and stared at the Polaroid camera in her hands. Gaining some confidence, she advanced to Shimizu and sat down beside him.

"I—I'm sorry for all the trouble, Shimizu-kun," she said quietly, fumbling with the camera.

The blonde sleepily turned to her and smiled. "We're . . . finished, ne? All we just have to do . . . is go to the finish line . . . and the game's ended for us," he said, the smile still on his features.

Fuyuumi nodded. "Hai . . ."

"If you're . . . going to think deeply . . . what's the prize of this all?"

The sea green-haired sixteen year-old lass turned to glance at her partner. "Anou . . . m—money?"

Shimizu chuckled and it was the first time Fuyuumi ever heard him do so. His laugh was angelic but you could still sense the sleepiness in him. She stared at him for a long while, waiting for him to speak.

"There's no prize."

Fuyuumi's mouth hung. "W—What?"

"There's no . . . prize . . . at all," replied Shimizu, somehow producing a long stick from somewhere. He broke it into two and played with it. "Hihara-senpai no onii-san, Kanayan, and Ousaki-senpai . . . didn't say anything about . . . prizes . . . did they? As far as I can remember . . . this is just to make up . . . for our troublesome . . . vacation, ne?"

"But then . . ."

"Why are we trying to do this?" continued Shimizu. "Well . . . isn't that the irony . . . of all? Well . . . isn't that the mystery . . . in this? Pride . . . ?"

Fuyuumi wondered, too and averted her gaze from Shimizu. Now that he tackled that topic, she was brought to wonder as well. And then—

"—And isn't it inexplicable that . . . I'm now confused?"

Fuyuumi raised an eyebrow. Confused about what?

"About what, Shi—Shimizu-kun?" she asked quietly. She waited for him to reply for some few seconds.

"I'm confused . . . whether I really did like Kaho-senpai or I was just . . ." He stopped and looked down, a thoughtful smile on his lips. "Or I was just . . . seeking reasons enough to . . ."

"R—Reasons enough to . . . ?"

Shimizu turned to look at her.

-

Hihara cleared his throat and looked around, trying to calm the jumpy feeling in his gut. They had finished reading the diary entries and he found out some seemingly important things.

Firstly, Hino Kahoko knew that someone had seen her bathe in the river they had been when they were in the isle. Second, he found out that Yunoki was harboring some sort of "feelings" for the redhead lass. Third, he found out that liking Hino Kahoko was the hardest thing of all especially since it was not only him who fancied her. And lastly, he knew that both he and Yunoki lost.

To Tsukimori Len.

"She likes him, huh?" he stuttered, biting his lower lip and twitching a small nervous smile.

"More like she _loves_ him," replied Yunoki as he shrugged. "It's very apparent, isn't it? How worried she was when you walked out the chopper alone and without a single sign of Tsukimori."

Hihara let out a huff and said, "Well, isn't he a worthy _opponent_?"

Yunoki shrugged again with a faux smile. "Yes, he is," he seconded, staring off to space.

And they were wrapped by a pleasant silence.

"What's up with our next item? We have to move on now before any other group could finish before we do, ne?" stated Yunoki. A composed smile enlightened his beautiful features, making him look almost angelic—hiding some rather hideous alter ego within him.

"Hm, now that you've mentioned it, let's see . . ." Hihara reached out to his pants' back pockets, struggled a bit to get a certain piece of paper, and finally fished out a crumpled piece of note.

Silently, they read together, committing to their minds the black Japanese characters imprinted on the white sheet of paper. Yunoki almost rolled his eyes upon the ostensible dullness of the item they had to find.

"Okiii!" exclaimed Hihara, a wide, toothy grin suddenly adorning his tan face. "Shimizu-kun's most prized pillow then!"

"A pillow," mumbled Yunoki as he mentally shook his head. As expected of Shimizu Keiichi. But couldn't it be someone else's item? Like Tsukimori Len's. His item could be something promising as would be expected of him.

"By the way, Yunoki," the green-head said out of the blue, his voice strangely soft as a whisper.

Eyebrows raised, Yunoki mumbled, "Hm?"

"What does Kaho-chan mean by, let me quote, 'or like before . . . was he playing games with me'? She was referring to you . . ."

Yunoki chuckled dourly although the sourness had gone unnoticed by the hyperactive Hihara Kazuki.

"And what does Hino-san mean by, let me quote as well, 'someone actually saw me nude'?" the lilac-haired mocked. "Quite obviously as your nose on your face, she was talking about you."

Hihara gulped audibly and laughed nervously, slipping off the topic.

-

'_He didn't answer me,'_ Kahoko thought as she halted when Tsukimori, himself, stopped from walking.

She asked him if he liked her but all he did was dismiss the question like she didn't ask him at all and immediately went to sleep. All she wanted was answers—answers that, obviously, were deprived to her. Confused, she looked up to him.

"What's the matter, Tsukimori-kun?"

"Are they trying to get us out of track?" grunted Tsukimori as he sighed. He ran a hand along his blue tresses and grumbled. "We're lost, Hino."

"What?"

Tsukimori spun around and glared. "I said we're lost; they did some sort of confusion like making some placards saying that we are lucky enough to find it—pointing us to the wrong direction instead of the correct one."

Kahoko fell silent. "And you're saying we fell for the . . . trap?"

Her partner didn't reply and she mentally prayed that God, save them. How were they going to win if they were poles apart from their second and last item?

"Um, I have a compass here," she said. She placed her backpack on the ground and delved on it, finding the needed object. When she looked up, she found Tsukimori glaring down at her. "Y—Yes? Uh, is there a problem, Tsukimori-kun?"

Tsukimori's frown heightened and he glared further.

"Uh, Tsukimori-kun?"

"We shouldn't have gone lost if you just said you have _that_ earlier as possible," he grunted. He sighed his annoyance at the lass's evident idiocy.

"Oh, sorry," mumbled Kahoko, blushing. "I was just wondering if . . . really, I'm sorry."

Tsukimori sighed and tilted his head to the side. "Fine . . . we wouldn't need it anyway," he said. "We'd just retract our way to the site where we stayed overnight last night."

"H—Hai."

Problem was, when Kahoko stood up from her crouching position and stepped forward to Tsukimori, she fell.

Literally.

"Ah!"

On the space where her foot had stepped on when she moved forward was a stack of dried leaves—stack of dried leaves that didn't show any difference with the other forest ground as the ground was covered fully by leaves—that covered an almost dangerous and deep cavity that was obviously dug by people.

People who, unfortunately, screamed the names "Kanazawa Hiroto," "Ousaki Shinobu," and "Hihara Haruki." People who, unfortunately, screamed the traits "lazy ass," "damn composed intern," and "wacky and annoying B-ball player."

"Hino!" cried Tsukimori as he hurried towards the edge of the hollowed-out pit of the forest ground. He looked down at a Hino Kahoko who was sprawled on the ground, clutching her right ankle. "Are you alright?"

Kahoko looked up at Tsukimori and grinned sheepishly. "Y—Yeah, but my ankle . . ."

"Hold on, I'll find a way on how you can get out of there," assured Tsukimori as he went out of sight from the bottom where Kahoko was.

When he was gone, Kahoko sighed and stared at her sprained ankle. She wouldn't be in that pit if she walked closely with Tsukimori who was walking in a quite big distance away from her. If she hadn't asked that stupid question about him liking her, Tsukimori wouldn't move far away from her and instead walk closely with her as they had done in the start (they even walked hand-in-hand from the start!).

-

"R—Reasons enough to . . . ?"

Shimizu turned to look at her.

"Or was I just seeking . . . reasons enough . . . to actually evade the . . . stinging feelings in my guts?" continued Shimizu. "To avoid . . . the occasional somersaults . . . when you're around. To avoid . . . the surge of warmth from my chest . . . when my eyes see you."

Fuyuumi was stunned. Perhaps, much more than stunned. To actually have him say that was like having him indirectly confess to her. Having him say that was like playing her clarinet without stopping yet without consuming tons of energy.

When Shimizu smiled, she, too, smiled.

"Shi—Shimizu-kun, it's okay," she said, staring up at the trees. "You don't ha—have to tell m—me some comforting things just to l—lighten up my mood. W—Waiting goes w—with patience, n—ne, Shimizu-kun?" She blushed and Shimizu started playing with his sticks once again. "There's time to b—be patient."

Shimizu shrugged. "And there's time . . . to open the eyes and see . . . what was right under our nose all this time," he said, grinning. "Fuyuumi-san, that's a Polaroid, ne . . . ? Why not . . . have remembrance of . . . today?"

Fuyuumi blinked and smiled shyly. She did something with the camera, set it to timer, and she and her partner positioned themselves in front of it.

They were shoulders to shoulders, adorable smiles on their lips. When the flash came, Fuyuumi felt something lean on her shoulder that she turned her head to face it. To her surprise, she found her lips kissing Shimizu Keiichi's cheeks.

Somehow, Shimizu made his way at Fuyuumi's back, placed his chin on her shoulders, and have her kiss his cheek when the photo had been taken.

And that would be the best remembrance he had on that day when he finally opened his blinded eyes to see something—or some_one_—that had always been there all the time.

_. . . to be continued_

**Author's Notes: **_Okay, so pinch me please! Finally! I got a hundred reviews, woohoo! I've been waiting for it, haha. :D And the person who have been my one hundredth reviewer, __**Streiter**__!!! Whoa, thank you Streiter!!! You're one of the really great people who helped me reach my dream! ;DD_

_Three more chapters to go and this will be officially done! I'm not sure if I'd add up an epilogue . . . Anyway, I'll ask your opinion (those who've read MEMOIR) if it would be okay with you that I rewrite it. I changed something with the plot and I've been planning on remaking it. Would it be fine with you? If you're thinking I'd be deleting it, no, I won't. I'd still use the story- I don't want wasting the 133 reviews, duh- but the plot will considerably change. Fine with it? I'm really sorry for the hassle. If I don't do it, it would not be updated and would be in a hiatus for a very long span of time._

_Thanks to the following for reviewing:_

(97th) **Moonlight Nocturne  
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**_(100__th__)_ **-. Streiter . Destiny . Miseki .-  
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_Thank you guys so much!!! XDD by the way, I apologize since the sixth chapter wasn't proofread and God, I've seen too many mistakes. I'm sorry. I haven't changed it yet, too. _

_~sera-chan_


	8. VIII: Something, Someone

**THE CAMP**

**Chapter 8 – Something, Someone**

Amou Nami jumped, her right hand reaching out, trying to get a hold of the item they had seen that day that had been hanging on the bough above her and her partner. Finally, she and Tsuchiura were able to get to their destination although with only a tad of luck.

They struggled to be able to get to their current location—a tall pine tree. Before they reached it, though, Tsuchiura had almost injured himself when he slipped off from a mound of earth and hit his right shoulder to a huge steady rock. It was a good thing that he had his backpack on when he hit the rock—a thing that absolutely saved him from total injury.

At the first time they had stepped in their camp site, Tsuchiura had already taken notice of a tall tree not far away. It was the tallest he had ever seen in his entire life and it was quite attention grabbing as the stature of the other trees weren't as high as the tree he had seen. Quite obviously, it was also the only pine tree among the others. And ironically, it was the tree they were stepping on.

Amou jumped again, this time nearly sliding off from the tree branch. Tsuchiura, fortunately, was able to catch her in no time.

The green-head sighed. "Be careful, that's all I can say," he said, helping Amou recover through patting the girl's back. "We're meters away from the ground, remember that. It's dangerous to do such stunts."

Amou glared at him. "Then why don't you get our item so we're finished immediately? Besides, aren't you just the oh-so-mighty soccer prince of Seiso?"

Tsuchiura glowered back, stepping back along the think branch, perfectly balanced. "And tell me—are you the most celebrated bigmouth-loudmouth of Seiso who never fails to piss me off these past few days?" he countered, crossing his arms and looking up at the hanging plastic bag. "Tch, and you're short in stature—that's why you can't grab that little piece of . . . whatever."

"Hah! Now I know why Kaho-chan favors Tsukimori-kun more than you—you're such an ass!" snapped Amou, looking away from the lad and onto the hanging item. Pointing out her height added gas to the fire all the more. "If you just know . . . ," she said, barely audible. It wasn't meant for Tsuchiura to hear but still, he did.

". . . What?"

Amou's eyes flickered to his direction. "What 'what'?"

Tsuchiura hesitated before saying, "You said something but I didn't get to hear it clearly."

The beige-haired girl slightly blushed and looked away, folding her arms. "I won't tell you because, like I said, you're an ass."

Tsuchiura sighed, shaking his head. What would he get from a pissed off Amou? He really did wonder why she was acting all this cheesed off with him. It wasn't like he did something aggravating towards the lass, did he? He was just acting like his own self but the girl . . . she was just so . . . . Something was definitely off with Amou.

And Tsuchiura wanted to know what was wrong with her.

He shouldn't have acted like the question bothered him. He should have done the contrary. He should have answered the question straight out so there wouldn't be anything that would bug his viscera any longer.

No. Actually, he shouldn't have just joined this insane idea of a camp. No. He shouldn't have just studied in Seiso Academy. _Yes_. He shouldn't have just met Hino Kahoko.

Should have . . . . Should have . . . . Should have . . . .

But he _didn't_.

"_Tsukimori-kun . . . do you like me?"_

It was annoying.

Tsukimori Len ran aimlessly, looking around for something he could use to help Kahoko up from the pit she had fallen into. Not far away from his right was a group of banana trees that seemed to wait for him to look at them. Without hesitating, he approached a tree and thought of something to get to help the redhead.

Looking at the ground, he got an elongated rock with a sharp side and obstinately cut off a 1 and a half-meter-long leaf. With difficulty, Tsukimori completely removed the leaf from that trunk and got only its midrib.

The blue-head bit his lip but nevertheless walked off, heading back to where Kahoko was.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath, making his way back. "She's such an idiot."

A small smile spread across his lips upon certain words he heard a few weeks ago when they were stranded in an island—when it was only him and her alone just like this . . . .

"_If you think that I am an idiot that I am, simply call me Idiot, expect that I would smile."_

He had always placed the words she promised in his heart—the words that made the smallest of smiles escape from his lips and that made the tiniest glint of bliss show up in his eyes. And there, he recalled Kahoko's other words. And that made a whole new willpower run through his veins, making him run more and more and more . . . and reach her.

Kahoko looked up at the hole above. There stood Tsukimori Len, palms on his knees, panting. He had a long midrib of a banana leaf with him and she wondered if that would ever reach her—

"Hino," called out Tsukimori as he stared at her. Was that worry she could perceive from his eyes? "Can you stand up?"

"Oh . . . ," mumbled Kahoko, a sheepish smile on her lips. "I guess I can."

Tsukimori nodded. "Good."

Kahoko's eyes widened. "Tsukimori-kun! What are you doing?"

Tsukimori had cautiously jumped a little inside the pit and what amazed Kahoko the most was the fact that he didn't completely fall off as he hung on there, his left hand holding onto the edge of the earth and his right hand holding the midrib he had with him. The redhead assumed that he was balancing himself (for him not to fall onto her current location) as he had his feet stepping onto a solid bump within the earth walls.

"W—What are—Tsukimori-kun, you must be careful!" stuttered Kahoko, her hands clutching her chest. "You nearly scared me there!"

Tsukimori raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" he asked. "Just grab a hold onto this."

The blue-headed young man wiggled the midrib with him to emphasize what he was talking about.

"But Tsukimori-kun, are you certain that we won't . . . you know . . . fa—"

"Fall?" continued Tsukimori, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "Just take it."

Kahoko pouted and in the depths of Tsukimori's stomach, he could feel slight amusement. He knew she was scared—as scared as she was when they fell off a cliff when they were stranded once—but he knew that she knew that he was right there in front of her. _Protecting_ her, as much as he hated to admit it.

"O—Okay."

And Hino Kahoko got a hold of the upper part of the midrib.

Hihara scratched his head and groaned in utter frustration.

"Yunokiiiiii! I haaaaate thiiiiiiiisss. Seriooussssssssss," he complained, now folding his arms across his chest and pouting like a child. "JUST WHERE THE HELL ARE WE _NAAOOWW_?"

The purple-haired young man with him smiled although there was a slight twitching on his eyebrows. They had roamed around the place now for almost an hour already and there was no sign of Shimizu's pillow just yet. They even came across some signs that said where the "right direction" was ought to be but it only seemed to say the complete contrary.

"Hihara, stop—"

"The sign said we're going to the northeast but why do I have this really, really, really, really, _really_ annoying feeling that we're in the northwest???"

_You're the annoying one. _"Hiha—"

"OH KAMI-SAMA, LOSING ISN'T IN MY PLAN!"

_And being your partner isn't in my plan either, tch. _A sigh escaped the Yunoki's lips. "Look, Hihara—"

"WHAT IF WE'RE THE LAST PAIR TO EVER GET OUR LAS—"

"Hihara!" called Yunoki with an eyebrow raised. "I want you to stop whining and let's just retrace the route we've been not long ago so we would be able to get to our real area."

"But—"

The green-headed trumpeter stopped, feeling a sudden chill ran down his spine. Why did he get the unusual feeling that Yunoki was practically _annoyed_ at him? And so, without further complaining, he followed the lavender-haired lad in front of him.

Tanned arms gripped tightly the thick, rough trunk. Long, lean legs supported a robust body frame as it crawled upward to another tree branch. A sigh broke away from Tsuchiura Ryoutaro's lips as he stood up on the tree branch above the branch Amou Nami was standing on.

"Okay, I'll untie this thing," he said as he kneeled down on one knee, starting to loosen the plastic bag from the round limb of the tree. "When this falls, catch it."

He stared at Amou's determined eyes and let the item fall when the girl nodded.

Tsuchiura smiled victoriously when Amou caught the item.

"I got it!" yelled Amou with a toothy grin. She posed herself with a peace-slash-victory sign in her right hand, her left clutching the item to her chest. "I got it!"

"Good, you didn't tell me sooner that you have some use," he said as he prepared himself to go down. He sighed. "At last, we're done—"

"I don't have a use, do I?" yelled Amou, seething and glaring at the soccer player and pianist. "Then—"

"AMOU!"

Tsuchiura, without thinking, jumped off the current branch he was on onto the bough where Amou _had been_ and successfully balanced himself, dived in to reach his hand out to Amou's fortunately gripping hand on the bough. Amou had slipped (all by accident) and was fortunate enough to be able to grab a hold onto the limb of the tree before she could even fall helplessly to the ground.

There was a clicking sound from below them as Amou unconsciously let go of the object she had with her.

"Are you all right?" asked Tsuchiura as he grasped Amou's arm with bost of his hands. He had to admit it—his heart seemed to leap up to his throat the moment his eyes caught Amou's feet slipping off. "You nearly fell! Be careful! What do you think would have happened had you not seized this branch?"

His glare softened when his eyes met Amou's tearful ones. It was the first time—in the long friendship with Amou—that he had seen the girl cry.

"I'm scared."

"O—Okay. I'll—"

"I—I'm scared."

Tsuchiura sighed. "Look. I'll pull you up through your right hand. Once you think you can reach this bough with your other hand, I will let go so you could pull up yourself from there. Is it all right with you?"

"I'm scared, Tsuchiura-shi! I'm scared!"

"Then trust me."

Amou wanted to continue saying how scared she was but then . . . at the back of her mind, there was a nagging that said, "Trust him."

"Ah!"

Tsukimori frowned when Kahoko let go of the tip of the midrib again and crouched down. "What now?" he groaned.

Kahoko looked up at him with a smile in her crouching position and got something from the ground. She picked it up and, still sitting, waved it in front of her.

"Tsukimori-kun, I think I've just found what we're looking for," she said, grinning.

Again, the lad had the sudden urge to roll his eyes. "Fine. But we won't be able to finish all that immediately if you'll stay there and won't pull up any endeavor to actually get yourself up—even despite the sprain in your ankle."

Kahoko pouted. "All right but admit it, you're happy that we're going to finish soon, ne, Tsukimori-kun?" she said, somewhat teasing the young man with her. She grinned when he sighed and wiggled the midrib with him again.

Yunoki continued walking ahead until he reached the intersection they had been not long ago where a placard was. On the placard was an arrow pointing to the direction they got into saying "Northeast." They should have known that Kanazawa, Ousaki, and Hihara's brother had done some _deplorable_ things.

"So I guess we need to walk that way"—Hihara pointed to the right when they were torn between left and right—"as that was the opposite of where we've gone earlier, ne? Ehhh . . . we should have realized that east is on the right, not left."

Yunoki shrugged. "I guess," he said before starting to walk ahead again. "Hino-san's diary might have contaminated our heads with some sort of bugs."

His voice was awfully dripping with venom called . . . hatred? Hihara shivered upon the thought. Why would Yunoki, his best friend, _hate_ the girl _of his dreams_? Hihara should admit—he was starting to _really_ _love_ the redhead.

The chains of thoughts were broken when he stepped on something _cuddly_. The green-headed trumpeter stopped from walking.

"KAMI-SAMA, YUNOKI, I THINK I'VE FOUND _IT_!"

Kahoko laughed as she scanned through the album they had gotten on the first task. There were pictures of Tsuchiura when he was so young—so young he didn't know he was wearing a _pink_ bikini—the image continuously popped up in Kahoko's head—; a red cheongsam with slits on the side of the leg that reached up until his upper thigh; and a bunny costume; and also a ballerina's dress.

"Would you believe that, Tsukimori-kun?" she said as she giggled. She was currently on Tsukimori's back, having a piggy-back ride. "Tsuchiura-kun wore a PINK bikini!"

Tsukimori insisted on carrying her on his back so she wouldn't strain her feet—one of which was sporting on a sprain. Kahoko declined the offer, though, but later on agreed when Tsukimori got her up onto his back without her permission. It didn't dis her but still . . . .

Nevertheless, Kahoko enjoyed the "ride". Her arms were wrapped around Tsukimori's shoulder, the album on her hands all the while as they walked towards the finish line. The last valuable object was with Tsukimori.

Kahoko didn't expect him to be the type of person to do "multi-tasking" but he was. And she smiled at the thought.

"I'm sorry, Tsukimori-kun," she whispered into his ear.

In the angle she could perceive, she saw Tsukimori's eyes narrow. "What for?" the lad asked.

". . . Because of the insane question I've shoved into you," she answered. "I—I didn't mean to bring in discomfort and awkwardness but—"

"I'm fine with it."

"Eh?"

"I said I'm fine with it. I think it's only natural for you to ask that as I was . . . I was acting weirdly around you."

A small smile adorned Kahoko's lips. "I'm really sorry . . . . It isn't important, though!" At this, Kahoko chuckled. From the corner of his eyes, Tsukimori looked at her. "I mean . . . what matters is that _I_'m with _you_ . . . _you_'re with _me_. I shouldn't care whether you like me or not, ne? Time will find its way—there will be this moment when I'll know the answer."

". . ."

"Because . . ."

". . ."

Kahoko nuzzled her nose onto Tsukimori's nape. "What's important is having something with you than nothing, ne?"

The blue-head violinist slightly stiffened at the statement.

"So that works with _someone_, doesn't it? Someone is far better than no one . . . right?"

And there was this small smile on Tsukimori's face that went unseen by Kahoko, although unknown to him, she swore she heard a whisper coming from him that said, "But having _you_ is far better than having _just_ a _someone_ with me."

_. . . to be continued_

**Author's Notes: **_I'm back! :D I want to apologize for such a late, late update. It's been a month, hasn't it? I'm sorry--not exactly a month as I last updated on the third of April. And also, I apologize for this . . . uhhh . . . __very__ dull chapter. I did this all in one seating. ;] Oh, the end is near. I'm happyyyyyy because I'll be finishing another piece for La Corda D'Oro!! I decided to make it ten chapters plus an epilogue to make it eleven. Ohhh._

_And I'm sorry for the occasional transition of scenes. Perhaps too much rest has totally deteriorated my writing style._

_I need inspiration so please __**review**__?_

_Thanks to the following for the reviews!_

_** -. Streiter . Destiny . Miseki.-**_

_**Annalisemarie99**_

_**aris-chan**_

_**gAm3fr3Akal**_

_**gizelle-chan**_

_**Hanisakura**_

_**Jeniffer Artemis**_

_**little miss flutterfly**_

_**NeKo Meow**_

_**nettetenjilover**_

_**Pathetic Rainbow**_

_**random-panda-chan**_

_**season's call**_

_thank you and __**reviews**__?_

_~sera-chan_


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